Epoxy On Spars?

I will be building some spars for a small (56 square foot) sprit sail from laminated Douglas fir. Will, as I've been told, a couple coatings of neat epoxy before varnishing add durability?

 

You could but it won't save varnishing. You won't reduce your coating schedule. With epoxy, however, you pay dearly for not keeping the varnish up religiously.
I wouldn't do it. Spars like that are ultra easy to refinish anyway (few fittings, no taping, etc.). But imagine accidentally sanding through the epoxy layer. The finish could look patchy unless redone everywhere else too.
Seems like protecting the epoxy would be what you were doing, not so much protecting the wood.

 

Unless the spars are built with epoxy encapsulation techniques, there's no reason to over coat the exterior with it.

Epoxy under varnish is an added difficulty, as Alan points out. Again, unless you "have to", you're bets advised to not. Epoxy will not offer added durability, though can harden the surface slightly. This isn't going to prevent dings, nicks, etc. without fabric (cloth) reinforcement too, so . . .

 

Sorry to butt in - would a 'sock' of glass and epoxy be worthwhile at the ends of spars?

I was thinking that it would cap the end grain and add durability - especially with fittings screwed in the butt end.

 

You aren't preventing water from entering the butt end of the spar. It will migrate into that area from the unsealed portion.
Adding a sock to the end could help prevent splitting though screw-holding wouldn't increase---- unless the fiberglass is very thick. You can increase screw-holding in soft wood by wetting and then dripping a drop of Gorilla glue into the screw hole just before driving the screw. The stuff expands and hardens the wood surrounding the hole.
Instead of a sock, a simple ring would be simpler to make and would prevent splitting to the same degree.

 

Thanks Alan. That makes a lot more sense.

 

NZ or E Asia ???

Aren't you the bloke that wants a sail boat that fits a car-top (mini or Caddy) to go sailing for free - with all the kids - but doesnt' want to have anything that works - - ooops - - that's complicated - like a Hobie - that weighs 10 times more & as a free bonus - goes 10 times slower than a Mosquito (just as an example). Big task/ask but 3 or 4 of you should pull-it-off with ease & then be able to cart it everywhere & the kids would have a ball.

Have you found a boat to do that yet ??? There's just got to be some 14' Hobies over - your-side of the puddle - for around $300 or so - & that's about as cheap as you'll get & fairly hard to kill it. Bit heavy - for a roof rack - unless you extend the 'gutters' to over 300mm each & the cross-bars - - then you'll need 3 maybe 4 - dads to put it up there. But for sure - CAN be done. Good luck with that project. Ciao, james - - PS - I'd rather have a 'mossi' - cause they are 20 times more fun to sail, I M H O jj

 

Don't know what you're talking about...

I don't have kids. Not in this country, at least. The ones I do have are in their mid twenties.

My 'car' could take a very large load indeed - but I am a bit pushed putting anything on it without a ladder. The roof line is about level with my the top of my head, and I'm not short. So it needs to be light. Not much chance of 3 or 4 people to load and unload. Me and maybe my wife... depends if there is a BBQ going on...

Not looking for a Hobie - for a very good reason. There aren't any here. I don't know where it is you think I live... I have been looking for three years and have never seen a sailing boat for sale of any description, let alone a beach cat. The only way I will get a beach cat is if I make one.

We do have a lot of beach - typically if the wife and I go, we are the only two people within sight. Plenty of scope to muck about.

I have spent over £100 in the last couple of weeks on plans, so not specifically looking for something for nothing, but having been burned on a couple of plans that use items just not obtainable here without a large outlay in shipping costs from Europe or Oz, I'm more inclined to plans where I can see what I need before outlaying even more money.

I think the Mossie is too fragile for here - there arr a lot of submerged rocks - I will be looking for something with a bit more than 4mm ply on the bottom.

So, it is a hard ask - something to disassemble to load on the roof rack, something strong enough to handle the knocks, something simple enough that a novice can sail it, something that I can make the spars, mast and sail for - no such thing as a sailmaker here - I am having a hard enough time trying to find fibreglass and resin.

So, a lot of challenges, but then if it was easy, everyone would be doing it...

 

Thank's for the responses. No epoxy then, just varnish although I am thinking of painting the outer ends of the spars white. If I do the paint will go over varnish so's it will be easier to sand off if it looks cartoonish. What do you think?

 

Painting the ends white can make them look smart, it seems to be a tradition on a lot of classic wooden boats.

I think though its because so many old screw holes from old fittings, dings and knocks from the outer ends of all spars makes the wood ugly under varnish.

I have seen the same thing on the bows of older wooden boats too.

 

Hmmm .. maybe a paper Tiger ??

http://www.papertigercatamaran.org/

or the low tech plywood of a Wharram 17ft cat